Ok, I wasn't a big Trey Songz fan because I thought he was a teeny-bopper and his music was too explicit. However, I did think the brother could sing. So, one evening I am flipping channles and come across his BET show Trey Song: My Moment.

What do pirates and gold have in common? Well, other than the fact that Pirates love the bling, Fernbank is bringing the two together for its Pirate Weekend.

On November 6, adults can check out Fernbank’s Martinis & IMAX®, where the Museum of Natural History will be offering none other than Drunken Parrot martinis.  Guests will also be able to visit Fernbank's Gold exhibit, take a Gold Gallery Treasure Hunt, enjoy live music by Tongo Hiti and enjoy an Imax movie or a special screening of The Goonies at 10 p.m. (Goonies will be on the IMAX screen but in the IMAX format).

This night of Pirate fun and bling bling can be had all for hte price of $12 (martinis extra).

Space is limited and advance ticket purchase is recommended. Purchase tickets by calling 404.929.6400.
 
For those will children, on Saturday, November 7 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and Sunday, November 8 (noon to 3 p.m.), Fernbank will offer family-friendly, pirate-themed fun and games. Activities include temporary tattoos, a limbo contest, a Museum Treasure Hunt, a visit by the Georgia Bubbleman and more. Special prizes will be given to children wearing a pirate costume.
 
Pirate Weekend activities are included with Museum admission and are free for members. Museum admission is $15 for adults, $14 for students and seniors, and $13 for children ages 12 and under.
 
For tickets, visit fernbankmuseum.org or call 404.929.6400.
 
Fernbank Museum of Natural History is located at 767 Clifton Road in Atlanta. The Museum is accessible by Marta and also offers free parking.
 

On Wednesday, Oct. 28 Emory University in DeKalb County will welcome the  Rev. Dr. Bernard LaFayette as the speaker for its annual Howard Thurman Lecture

Those interested in the Civil Rights Movement or Black Chruch Studies may want to take special note of the free public event that will be held at 11 a.m. in room 102 of the theology school building, 1531 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322. The Thurman Lecture, named for pastor, poet, critic and educator the Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman, is sponsored by the school's Program of Black Church Studies.

LaFayette, now a distinguished senior scholar-in-residence at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, is a longtime civil rights activist, organizer and authority on nonviolent social change. He co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1960, and was a core leader of the civil rights movement in Nashville, Tenn., in 1960 and in Selma, Ala., in 1965. He directed the Alabama Voter Registration Project in 1962 and was appointed by Martin Luther King Jr., to be national program administrator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and national coordinator of the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign.

L

Congratulations are in order for DeKalb Medical Center. The DeKalb County hospital has won two VHA Leaderhip Awards

The hospital won a VHA Operational Excellence award for its Emergency Room at North Decatur for initiating processes that have decreased wait time, improved patient satisfaction and generated $11.5 million in new revenue through increased efficiency. A total of some 50 process changes were implemented to improve patient flow and satisfaction. ER waits have dropped to an average of only 30 minutes with 95 percent  of surveyed patients expressing satisfaction with service promptness according to Emergency Services Director Celeste Surreira, R.N., C.E.N. Improvements include ER waiting room greeters, quicker check-in and a faster turn around time for labs and X-rays. 

Innovations in the prevention of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers have also earned DeKalb Medical at North Decatur a Clinical Excellence award from the VHA. The protocols have helped the hospital achieve a dramatic reduction in the incidence of pressure ulcers from 15 percent last year to less than one percent in June of 2009. D

The awards will be officially presented to DeKalb Medical at the VHA Georgia Leadership conference to be held on September 2, 2009 at the Georgia International Convention Center

Aileen On The Go! was one of the lucky invitees to the opening party for the Renaissance Walk, a new mixed-use development on Auburn Ave., in what is now being called downtown east.